Sanctuary

Nine days later, it was the day before Christmas Eve. Over the past month, Alex and I have been discussing us visiting my mom and her fiancée in my hometown in Virginia. I was packed up and ready to leave in the middle of the night to head to the airport. Tonight, I got home from work at eight o’clock which should give me a decent amount of sleep before we leave tonight.

“How was work?” Alex asked from inside the kitchen.

He was scrounging around in the cabinets for food.

“It dragged and now, I hope I can get some sleep, but that’s gonna be tough. I’m too excited.”

I walked into the kitchen and wrapped my arms around him. He turned around and placed me on the counter while I giggled.

“I’m pretty damn excited to visit your hometown.”

My hometown was the epitome of a small town unlike Baltimore. I love the city and fell in love with it when he and I visited his parents during Christmas two years ago.

“It’s not too exciting. Just wanna let you know that it’s not Baltimore.”

“Doesn’t matter. It’s where you grew up.”

I smiled.

“Are you packed?” I asked.

“Yes. I’m all ready to go.”

“I wanna go now, but it’s too early and I actually want sleep.”

“Remember you can always sleep on the plane.” he said, taking my hands.

I nodded and kissed him; he kissed me back.

This will be just the fourth time I'll be on a plane in my life; who knows how many planes Alex has ridden on.

“You want something to eat before you go to bed?”

“Maybe a little something. I need to wind down before I go to bed.”

“I’ll find you something.”

That was a relief because I was exhausted.

“Thank you.”

I must've blacked out because I found myself in bed with no memory of getting here. Was I really that tired? I looked over and saw a sleeping Alex, so I snuggled up to him and fell back asleep. When the alarm went off at two am, I groaned and was tempted to throw my phone, but I resisted and shut it off. I reluctantly got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, hoping for an invigorating shower. In the middle of it, I heard his loud footsteps walk into the bathroom.

"Morning, Caveman."

"Good morning." he said yawning.

"Wanna join me?"

I didn't get an answer. Instead, I heard the sound of clothes falling to the ground and the sound of the curtain opening and closing.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked.

The shower wasn't helping much.

"Ok. You?"

"Ok. Hey, did I blackout? Because..."

"Yeah. It was a couple minutes after you thanked me when I told you I'd get you something to eat."

"Fuck. I was tired."

He laughed.

"Was I on the couch? Please tell me I was.”

“You were, but I would’ve caught you if you were about to hit the ground.”

I laughed into his chest. He laughed along with me.

"Good to know."

Fifteen minutes later, we were out of the shower and drying off. I rubbed my eyes as I put on the clothes I picked out still trying to wake up. When I was done, I fell back onto the bed and sighed.

“What are you doing?” Alex asked, standing over me.

“What’s it look like?” I mumbled with my eyes closing.

“It looks like I’m driving.”

I flipped onto my stomach and placed my face into the sheets and groaned. He couldn’t help but laugh.

“I love exhausted Abby.”

“If I had enough energy, I’d flip you off.”

“You’re hilarious.”

I heard him in the bathroom maybe five minutes later when I realized I needed to brush my teeth. I got up and walked in there, pushing him out of the way.

“Well, excuse you.”

“I need to brush my teeth. I can’t leave the house without doing so.”

He was clearly annoyed.

“Sorry.” I said in a bitchy tone.

I began brushing my teeth and noticed he left the bathroom. Sometimes, I can be a huge bitch when I don’t get enough sleep and today just happens to be one of those days. When I finished, I properly put my toothbrush into a travel case before brushing my hair. I slipped past Alex who was walking back in. I packed my toothbrush, grabbed my belongings and sat down in the living room.

“Abby?”

He seemed to be in a good mood.

“Yeah?” I yawned.

“I’m assuming you’re ready?”

“Yep. You?”

“Yeah.”

He had his belongings with him like I did.

“Let’s go, then.” I said, getting up and grabbing my suitcase.

Alex went ahead of me and opened the door.

“Thank you.”

When I got in the car, I could feel myself drifting to sleep once again. I woke about five minutes from the airport.

“How long have I been out?”

“Since we left the house.”

“Oh wow. Glad I didn’t drive.”

The wait for our flight to be called seemed to drag.

“Fuck yeah.” I said as I got comfy and laid my head on his shoulder.

He laughed.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” he said kissing the top of my head.

I ended up sleeping for just a couple hours.

“How do you feel?”

“Rested and not bitchy.”

“Thank goodness.” he sighed.

I gave him the dirty eyeball, but I decided to not talk about it; this is supposed to be a joyous holiday.

“How about you?”

“Great.”

Walking out of the terminal four hours later, I couldn’t control how excited I was; Alex clearly noticed.

“Someone’s excited.”

I squealed and he shook his head with a smile of his own on his face.

“You think she’s gonna have a sign?”

Before I could get a response, I saw her and began to dash toward her after I dropped my suitcase. She ran toward me and met me halfway.

“Hi Abby.” my mom embraced me.

“Hi Mom.”

I then heard Alex behind me and I instantly felt embarrassed for dropping my suitcase like that.

“You drop something, Miss?” he asked with his English accent coming through.

I turned around and smiled.

“Oh yes, I did. Thank you, Sir.”

I stood on my toes and kissed him.

“You’re welcome.” he said smiling.

I was tempted to wrap my arms around his neck, but then I remembered that we weren't alone.

"Oh, sorry about that." I said laughing.

“That’s okay. That was adorable.”

I blushed and she turned to Tyler.

“Tyler, I’d like to formally introduce you to my daughter, Abby and her fiancée, Alex.”

He reached out his hand and shook both my hand and Alex’s hand with a genuine smile on his face.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”

"Pleasure to meet you, too."

"Pleasure to meet the man who has stolen my mom's heart."

He blushed and my mom smiled; the man was speechless and they were pretty damn cute together.

"Are we good to go? Because I know you're itching to go home." my mom asked.

"Absolutely."

It was a fairly short ride from the airport to my hometown. Memories of my childhood came flashing back; for example, where I went on my first date and my first job. I had a hold on Alex's arm as I looked around which amused him, of course. We drove past the home I grew up in which immediately brought on the waterworks; my mom had sold it a year-and-a-half ago as she had accepted Tyler's invitation to move in with him. I hid my face in Alex's shirt to avoid the site of me crying; he knew I was crying as he could hear my light sniffling.

"Abby." he whispered.

Tears continued to run down my face as I looked up at him.

"What is it?" he asked wiping my tears.

"That's where I grew up." I said pointing to the house.

He looked backward and saw the red car that was parked directly in front of the house. He kissed my forehead and wrapped an arm around my waist and kept it there for the last five minutes to their apartment. By then, my tears had ran dry and I looked presentable.

"Is everything okay, honey?" my mom asked as we got our suitcases out of the trunk.

"We went past the house." I said simply before I began rolling my suitcase.

“Abigail...” she said, stopping me in my tracks.

She walked toward me and hugged me.

“Is there any chance I can go take a walkthrough? I know someone’s living there, but...” I said pulling apart.

“I know the person who lives there. We work together. She’ll let you.”

I smiled widely and hugged her.

“You’re the best.”

I heard Alex clear his throat; I turned around and laughed.

“What about me?”

He was so pitiful; it was adorable.

“You’re the best in other ways.”

I smirked; a chunk of that was sex-related. He smirked.

“Let’s go in, shall we?” Tyler asked.

I nodded. We rolled our suitcases and walked into the apartment building and after he unlocked the apartment door, we followed he and my mom inside. It was a really nice apartment and was much nicer than the tiny house I grew up in. He had two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a decent sized living room and kitchen.

“You guys got a really nice place here.” I said, sitting down on the couch.

“Thank you.” he said.

“You’re welcome.”

“Would you guys like to go out and eat? It’s nearing four and I bet you two are starving.”

“We are.”

“Then, it’s a plan.”

Alex and I excused ourselves to the guest bathroom to freshen up.

“I want to know exactly how you’re feeling about seeing your childhood home.”

“Well, it brought a wave of emotions and just hit me hard. That house might be small and at the time, it was a shitty home, but I had a lot of good memories there. That’s where I made my first meal, where I made breakfast every Sunday morning since I was twelve and where I had numerous sleepovers with Miranda. I miss it, you know?”

I sighed, backing up against the wall.

“Yeah. Want me to come with you?”

“Of course.” I said smiling.

“You guys good?” my mom asked.

We were walking down the hall.

“Yep. Where we headed?”

We headed to where I had my first job which brought a smile to my face.

“So, this was your first job.” Alex said.

It was a run down restaurant, but it was one where everyone knew each other.

“I was 16 and I loved it. It wasn’t cooking, but waitressing wasn’t bad. I prefer to be behind the scenes.”

We sat ourselves and patiently waited for our waitress.

"When did ya start cookin'?" Tyler asked.

"When I was 12. That's when my mom finally let me near the stove. I had been wanting to for a couple years at that point."

“How about your first meal?”

We were interrupted by our waitress who quickly took our drink order.

“Chicken marsala. It was a huge hit.” I said dramatically.

“She taught me how to make it, actually.” Alex added.

“He made it for me five months ago.”

“Did it measure up?” Tyler asked.

“It did. It was excellent.”

I smiled and looked over to see him blushing.

“Is he giving you a run for your money?”

“Yeah, but he’s incredibly talented in other ways; ways that I’m not.”

“I heard. Your band is pretty amazing.”

Her fiancée had no idea who All Time Low was until the first time I met him through FaceTime; that amused me. My mom proceeded to educate him about them after that. I wonder what he’s listened to since then.

“Everybody ready to order?”

Once she took our orders, I was eager to hear what else he had to say.

“Thanks, man. That means a lot.” Alex said.

“That’s so cool. What have you listened to?”

I had my elbows on the table and leaned forward.

“So far, just Nothing Personal and Dirty Work. I need to get on Amazon and order the rest.”

“You won’t be disappointed.”

“It’s always great to gain another fan.” Alex said.

I changed the subject when I saw the ring on my mom’s left ring finger. I nudged Alex and directed him to my mom’s hand. How do I bring this up? Just be blunt.

“So, when did Tyler propose?”

She looked up and was speechless.

“Last night. He proposed when we were out for ice cream after a homemade dinner.”

“Aww...”

They both blushed.

“I wanted to propose when she’d least expect it. What better time than two days before Christmas? She was shocked.”

How adorable is he?

"I definitely was. I've never been happier."

“Well, I’m very happy for you two.”

“Thank you, honey.”

In the middle of eating, someone familiar walked toward our booth.

“Abigail Shaw.”

It was my former boss.

“Gary Barnes.” I said with a smile.

“It’s so nice to see you.” he said hugging me.

“You too. How are you?”

I hugged back.

“Great. How are you?”

“Wonderful. I got my dream job out in California.”

“And it looks like you’re engaged.”

“We’re getting married in April.”

“Congrats, Abby on everything. Am I getting an invite?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course and thank you. This is Alex, my fiancée. Alex, this is Gary, my first boss.”

“Nice to meet you.” he said shaking his hand.

“Nice to meet you, too.”

I saw that handsome Alex Gaskarth smile and it caused me to melt.

“So, how was Abby as a waitress?”

“Awesome. Everyone here loved her. She had a great personality; she was very personable but could also hold her own."

I blushed.

"Well, nothing's changed."

He stood back up and kissed my cheek which furthered me blushing. I took his hand into mine before he could have a chance to sit back down.

"Glad to hear that.”

A couple minutes and a stomach rumbling later, we ended our conversation.

“I’ll see you in April then, Abby. Take care.”

“You too.”

“He seems like a cool dude.” Alex said.

“He is. He was like a father figure to me.” I said digging back into my dinner.

I was in an outstanding mood and I wanted it to last as long as possible.

"Up for dessert?" he asked close to a half hour later.

"Maybe later. I'm full. Feel free to get something for yourself." I said, patting my stomach.

"If I do, I know you're gonna want some."

"No. I'm not."

I looked at him incredulously. He rolled his eyes.

"I know you, Abby."

I shook my head. My mom and Tyler were laughing at this point.

"Whatever you say, Alex."

A minute later, he ordered a slice of cherry pie because of course he did and also asked for another fork as if we were gonna share. Cherry's my favorite flavor and I teased him on my birthday by biting one off the stem and my lips tasted like the irresistible flavor after I drank something with that flavor. My mouth was watering as I saw it being set in front of him.

"Want some?"

I gave him a look and he smirked.

"I'll take that as a no."

Don't give in. Don't do it.

It looks and smells so fucking good. I glanced across the table to see them eating dessert. You know what? Screw it. I'm going in. I picked up my fork and dug in when he was chewing a piece.

"How is it?"

He was still smirking.

"Shut up."

I tried to remain serious, but that turned out to be a failure as I cracked a smile. I playfully pushed him and he laughed.

"It's delicious as it always has been, smartass."

"Does that mean you want to get a slice?" he dared to ask.

"No. I'm good."

The rest of the day consisted of chilling in Tyler and my mom's apartment; movies were watched, there was a discussion of football much to my mom's dismay and talk of what tomorrow had to bring. When Alex and I excused ourselves and went to bed for the night, I was exhausted and just wanted to crawl under the covers. I changed into warmer pajamas than I wear anymore and brushed my teeth before I crawled into bed.

"You look warm." he said, joining me.

"I am." I said with a goofy smile.

He shook his head then placed his lips on mine and kissed me. I tugged on his shirt hoping that he'd take the hint and crawl on top of me; needless to say, he got the hint and laid on top of me.

"I love you." I said wrapping my arms around his neck.

I kissed him and ran my hands through his hair.

"I love you, too."

“I had a wonderful day. Did you?”

“One of the best. Tomorrow will be even better.”

Notes